Takamasa Sakurai

Sakurai at the Japan Expo in Paris in 2008.

Takamasa Sakurai (櫻井 孝昌 Sakurai Takamasa, December 19, 1965 – December 4, 2015) was a Japanese pop culture and anime expert. Sakurai was a strong proponent for the promotion of Japanese popular culture internationally as a means of cultural exchange and cultural diplomacy.[1] His projects promoted Japanese anime, fashion and music to a global audience. In 2009, Sakurai co-founded the Ministry of Foreign Affairs's "Kawaii Ambassador" program.[1] He also authored several books on the country's aesthetics and pop culture, including "Sekai Kawaii Kakumei" ("World Cuteness Revolution") and Anime Bunka Gaiko (Anime Cultural Diplomacy).[1][2]

On December 4, 2015, Sakurai was killed when he fell onto the tracks at the Nishi-Nippori Station of the Keihin-Tōhoku Line in Arakawa, Tokyo, around 12:30 a.m.[1] Sakurai, who was 49-years old, may have been intoxicated at the time of the accident.[1] He had lived in the nearby Higashi-Nippon neighborhood of Tokyo.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Japanese pop culture expert dies in railway fall". Japan Times. 2015-12-04. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
  2. 1 2 "Producer Takamasa Sakurai Passes Away at 49". Anime News Network. 2015-12-03. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
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